Political Parties
Chapter Summary
I. Introduction (234-236)The founding fathers feared that political parties could be forums of corruption and national
divisiveness. Today, most observers agree that political parties have contributed greatly to American democracy. Parties
have an impact on how we are governed and what government does. Party competition is the battle between Democrats
and Republicans for the control of public offices.II. The Meaning of Party (236-240)
A. Introduction
Anthony Downs defined a political party as a “team of men and women seeking to control the governing apparatus by
gaining office in a duly constituted election.” Political parties are like three-headed political giants. First, the party-in-theelectorate is the largest component of an American party. Americans join a party simply by identifying with it. Second, a
party as an organization has a national office, a full-time staff, rules and bylaws, and budgets. Third, the party-ingovernment consists of elected officials who label themselves as members of the party.
B. Tasks of the Parties
Linkage institutions translate inputs from the public into outputs from the policymakers. In the United States the four main
linkage institutions are parties, elections, interest groups, and the media. Political parties perform the following tasks: pick
candidates, run campaigns, give cues to voters through party image (what people believe the party generally stands for),
articulate policies, and coordinate policymaking.
C. Parties, Voters, and Policy: The Downs Model
Anthony Downs’ rational-choice theory “seeks to explain political processes and outcomes as consequences of purposive
behavior. Political actors are assumed to have goals and to pursue those goals sensibly and efficiently.” In the American
electorate a few voters are very liberal and a few very conservative, but most are in the middle; therefore, in order to
survive, both parties must stay near the center. From a rational-choice perspective, one should expect the parties to
differentiate themselves somewhat. Democrats and Republicans have to forge different identities to build voter loyalty.
More people see major differences between the major parties than they used to.
III. The Party in the Electorate (240-241)
For most people the party is a psychological concept. Party images help shape people’s party identification (the selfproclaimed preference for one party or the other). The clearest trend in party identification has been the decline of both
parties and upsurge of independence. African Americans are the only major social group that has not moved toward a
position of increased independence. The abandonment of either party for a nonpartisan stance is well advanced for many
white Americans, especially younger voters. Those who still identify with a party are no longer as loyal in the voting booth.
Ticket-splitting (voting with one party for one office and another for other offices) is on the rise.
IV. The Party Organizations: From the Grass Roots to Washington (241-245)
A. Introduction
As organizations, American political parties are decentralized and fragmented. In America the formal party organizations
have little power. Candidates in the United States can get elected on their own.
B. Local Parties
From the late nineteenth century through the 1930s, many cities were dominated by party machines (“party organization
that depends crucially on inducements that are both specific and material”). Patronage is one of the most important
inducements used by machines. Patronage jobs are given for political reasons rather than for merit or competence alone.
Urban party organizations are no longer very active as a rule. There has been a revitalization of party organization at the
county level.
C. The Fifty State Party Systems
American parties are a loose aggregation of fifty state parties, which are themselves a loose association of individuals,
groups, and local organizations. States are allowed wide discretion in the regulation of party activities including primary
elections. Some states give parties greater power than others to limit who can participate in their nomination contests by
using closed, open, or blanket primaries. In terms of headquarters and budgets, state parties are better organized than
they used to be, but still pale when compared to other national interest groups.
D. The National Party Organizations
The supreme power within each of the parties is its national convention that meets every four years to write the party’s
platform and nominate its candidates for president and vice president. The national committee keeps the party operating
between conventions. The day-to-day activities of the national party are the responsibility of the national chairperson.
V. The Party in Government: Promises and Policy (245-247)
Party control matters because each party and the elected officials who represent it try to turn campaign promises into
policy. Voters are usually attracted to different parties because of their performance and policies. What the party does in
office greatly influences who will join its coalition. Contrary to popular impression, research shows that parties and
presidents usually try to keep their promises. Party platforms are excellent predictors of a party’s actual policy
performance once in office.
VI. Party Eras in American History (247-253)
A. Introduction
Party eras consist of long periods of time when one party has been the dominant majority party. Party eras are punctuated
by a critical election that is characterized by an electoral upheaval resulting in new coalitions formed for each party. This
process is called party realignment.
B. 1796-1824: The First Party System
America’s first and shortest-lived major party was the Federalist Party. During this time, most party leaders did not regard
themselves as professional politicians. The Federalists were defeated by the Democratic-Republicans (also known as the
Jeffersonians). The Democratic-Republican Party was a coalition of agrarian interests rather than industrialists who
supported the Federalists.
C. 1828-1856: Jackson and the Democrats versus the Whigs
General Andrew Jackson founded the modern American political party, changing the Democratic-Republican Party to the
Democratic Party and forging a new coalition that included westerners as well as southerners, new immigrants as well as
settled Americans. Martin Van Buren was the behind-the-scenes architect of the Democratic Party. The Whigs composed
of northern industrialists and southern planters provided opposition.
D. 1860-1932: The Two Republican Eras
The slavery issue split the Democrats and Whigs in the 1850s, leading to the first Republican era. The Republicans rose
as the antislavery party, forging a coalition that put them in ascendancy for more than sixty years. A second Republican
era was initiated with the watershed election of 1896 over the issue of the gold standard, a realigning election that shifted
the party coalitions and entrenched the Republicans for another generation.
E. 1932-1968: The New Deal Coalition
The Republican Party declined with President Herbert Hoover’s handling of the Great Depression. Franklin Roosevelt
defeated Hoover in 1932, promising a New Deal. Democrats forged a New Deal coalition of urban dwellers, labor unions,
Catholics and Jews, the poor, southerners, African Americans, and intellectuals. The Democratic Party remained the clear
majority for decades. Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam War policies tore the Democratic Party apart in 1968.
F. 1968-Present: The Era of Divided Government
The first time in the twentieth century that a newly elected present did not have his party in control of both houses of
Congress was when Nixon won the 1968 election. Since then, with few exceptions, voters have opted to continue dividedparty government. Divided government is also common at the state level. In realignment people change from one party to
another; in a party dealignment citizens gradually move away from both. The recent dealignment has been characterized
by growing party neutrality. It is the independent-minded voters who will determine the ups and downs of party fortunes in
the twenty-first century.
VII. Third Parties: Their Impact on American Politics (254-256)
Third parties occasionally attract the public’s attention. There are three varieties of third parties: parties that promote
certain causes or ideologies, splinter parties that are offshoots of a major party, and parties that are extensions of a
popular individual with presidential aspirations. Third parties have brought new groups into the electorate and have served
as safety valves for popular discontent. The most obvious consequence of two-party governance is the moderation of
political conflict. With only two parties, both parties follow a centrist position in order to maximize their appeal to voters.
The result is often political ambiguity.
VIII. Understanding Political Parties (256-260)
A. Democracy and Responsible Party GovernmentIn an ideal democracy candidates should say what they mean to do if
elected and be able to do what they promised once elected. According to the responsible party model, parties should 1)
present distinct, comprehensive programs, 2) each party candidate must be committed to the program, 3) the majority
party must implement its program, and 4) the majority party must accept responsibility for the performance of government.
American political parties fall short of these conditions because they are too decentralized to take a national position and
enforce it and most candidates are self-selected. There is no mechanism for a party to discipline their officeholders and
ensure cohesion. Critics of the responsible party model argue that American society is too complex and diverse to capture
such a simple model. Local differences need an outlet for expression. Decentralized parties are appropriate for a limited
government.
B. Individualism and Gridlock
The founding fathers were concerned that political parties would violate individual rights and wanted to preserve individual
freedom of action by elected officials. A consequence of allowing individualism is gridlock in American policymaking. The
lack of a strong party structure makes it easier for politicians to pass the buck. When one party controls both the executive
and legislative branches there is less open conflict. Nevertheless, the party in control typically has a hard time maintaining
sufficient unity to accomplish major changes.
C. American Political Parties and the Scope of Government
The lack of disciplined parties in America helps explain why the scope of governmental activity is narrower in the United
States than in other established democracies. Substantially increasing the scope of government in America is not
something that can be accomplished through the disciplined actions of one party’s members, as is the case in other
democracies. On the other hand, because no single party in the United States can ever be said to have firm control over
the government, the hard choices necessary to cut back on existing government spending are rarely addressed.D. Is the
Party Over?The key problem of American political parties today is that they are no longer the main source of political
information, attention, and affection. The media and interest groups, for example, are major rivals to political parties.
There are indications that parties are trying to adapt to the high-tech age. State and national party organizations have
become more visible and active than ever. Political parties will probably continue to play an important, but significantly
diminished, role in American politics.